Perhaps the scariest is the technology carried by a Reaper drone the Air Force is flying near Lincoln, Nevada and in areas of California and Utah. This drone uses "Gorgon Stare" technology, which Wikipedia defines as "a spherical array of nine cameras attached to an aerial drone . . . capable of capturing motion imagery of an entire city."

Several of my friends and I saw a small craft fly overhead two weeks ago. Can anyone identify it?

It was white and smallish (5-10 feet, I'm not positive), had a buzzing sound like it was powered by propellers, and had wings that seemed oddly far back for a plane. It was travelling probably 300 feet above the ground at a pretty good clip

It could have been a model aircraft, but I've never seen one that was that big or had wings toward the back.

Self_Manifesto:Several of my friends and I saw a small craft fly overhead two weeks ago. Can anyone identify it?

It was white and smallish (5-10 feet, I'm not positive), had a buzzing sound like it was powered by propellers, and had wings that seemed oddly far back for a plane. It was travelling probably 300 feet above the ground at a pretty good clip

It could have been a model aircraft, but I've never seen one that was that big or had wings toward the back.

New York Times report that the Air Force's drone operators sometimes practice surveillance missions by tracking civilian cars along the highway adjacent to the base.

I had this happen when we were driving down next to the Housatonic River. We were smoking weed and we look over and there was a military helicopter flying sideways over the river tracking us. Talk about freak out we ate all our drugs and I was paranoid for weeks after

Frederf:I don't fear drones per se. It's just an automated aircraft. If it does the normal job cheaper and safer than great. What I fear is when politicians, enforcement, etc. start to "get ideas" making up new roles for drones to fill without due intelligence or consideration for those their ideas impact.

Self_Manifesto:Several of my friends and I saw a small craft fly overhead two weeks ago. Can anyone identify it?

It was white and smallish (5-10 feet, I'm not positive), had a buzzing sound like it was powered by propellers, and had wings that seemed oddly far back for a plane. It was travelling probably 300 feet above the ground at a pretty good clip

It could have been a model aircraft, but I've never seen one that was that big or had wings toward the back.

It would be awesome to have my own drone. I could send it to the liquor store to get me more booze when I'm too shiatfaced to drive, or to McDonald's to get me another McRib. So hell yeah I'll take a drone!

Why am I supposed to be more outraged/afraid of drones than I am of planes or helicopters with people in them? Or of spy satellites that already go over my house? Or wardriving hackers cruising past my house with their laptops agape reading my wireless transmissions? Or, you know, all the other intrusions on my privacy?

You think this is scary? Did you know that the US military is flying planes all over the US that are capable of leveling entire cities with multi megaton nuclear weapons? They've been doing it for decades!!

Gyrfalcon:Why am I supposed to be more outraged/afraid of drones than I am of planes or helicopters with people in them? Or of spy satellites that already go over my house? Or wardriving hackers cruising past my house with their laptops agape reading my wireless transmissions? Or, you know, all the other intrusions on my privacy?

In short, what's so unusual about drones except that they're new?

If I was being spied upon, I would rather not know about it (else I will be a paranoid maniac moreso than I am now). Drones can be noticed from the sky. Satellites not so much.

cman:Gyrfalcon: Why am I supposed to be more outraged/afraid of drones than I am of planes or helicopters with people in them? Or of spy satellites that already go over my house? Or wardriving hackers cruising past my house with their laptops agape reading my wireless transmissions? Or, you know, all the other intrusions on my privacy?

In short, what's so unusual about drones except that they're new?

If I was being spied upon, I would rather not know about it (else I will be a paranoid maniac moreso than I am now). Drones can be noticed from the sky. Satellites not so much.

Yeah, but as opposed to helicopters, planes and suchlike? Besides, there are kids flying RC planes around right now, do you notice them?

Gyrfalcon:cman: Gyrfalcon: Why am I supposed to be more outraged/afraid of drones than I am of planes or helicopters with people in them? Or of spy satellites that already go over my house? Or wardriving hackers cruising past my house with their laptops agape reading my wireless transmissions? Or, you know, all the other intrusions on my privacy?

In short, what's so unusual about drones except that they're new?

If I was being spied upon, I would rather not know about it (else I will be a paranoid maniac moreso than I am now). Drones can be noticed from the sky. Satellites not so much.

Yeah, but as opposed to helicopters, planes and suchlike? Besides, there are kids flying RC planes around right now, do you notice them?

You look up at the sky and see a drone, you know what it is there to do. You look up at the sky and see a helicopter, for all you know it could be the local news

fjnorton:New York Times report that the Air Force's drone operators sometimes practice surveillance missions by tracking civilian cars along the highway adjacent to the base.

I had this happen when we were driving down next to the Housatonic River. We were smoking weed and we look over and there was a military helicopter flying sideways over the river tracking us. Talk about freak out we ate all our drugs and I was paranoid for weeks after

I bet it was just some reserve guys farking with you. Happened to a friend of a friend while he was poaching deer one night. His friend was in reserve and was practicing with an Apache and chased him around for a while.

What bothers me isn't just surveillance. You're being watched in public all the time, by other people, and the odd law enforcement agent.

What bothers me is that all of this can and is being packaged into a single system, and all the information can be gathered into one place. Oh, and also the idiots who conflate this with the individual things that monitor us and therefore makes systematic surveillance okay.